It will come down to needs, perceived needs and wants and how many bells and whistles DAW users think they want or need. Notice I didn't say composers or musicians.

What I would like to see is improved virtual instruments and easier MIDI editing. I'd like to see a way to do changing meter and tempos.

It is strange that as music de-evolves DAWs and other equipment are evolving. I suspect that we are going to see refinements but nothing too earth shattering. Music will dictate some of how DAWs and gear evolves.

I see more collaborations between 3d party plugins i.e. being bundled into DAWs. The thing is a lot of DAWs have some really good built-in stuff (like oh say Mixcraft), but many still have this foolish tendency to think they have to get 3d party stuff and that stuff built into DAWs can't be as good because it's "free," hence the move to partner on such things. There will also, unfortunately, be increased attention given to people doing things via their iWhatevers, focusing more on fancy UIs, convenience and ease of use and less on capability and quality.

mixyguy2 wrote:I see more collaborations between 3d party plugins i.e. being bundled into DAWs. The thing is a lot of DAWs have some really good built-in stuff (like oh say Mixcraft), but many still have this foolish tendency to think they have to get 3d party stuff and that stuff built into DAWs can't be as good because it's "free," hence the move to partner on such things. There will also, unfortunately, be increased attention given to people doing things via their iWhatevers, focusing more on fancy UIs, convenience and ease of use and less on capability and quality.

The plug-ins in Mixcraft sound really good and are easy to use. I tried Reaper and besides it crashing a lot you had to download plug ins for it and while there are some good free ones I would rather stick with proprietary ones that have been determined to work smoothly with the DAW.

I think one of the things that has made 3rd party more appealing is the capability to be used in any DAW. While I understand plugins developed by a DAW maker take time and money to develop I don't like exclusive closed systems.
The unfortunate thing about 3rd party plugins included in DAWS is they are almost always tied to that DAW as are the plugins it comes with .
If I buy 3rd party plugins from say , Waves, they work in anything I use. To me, this counts for a lot.

For me and the types of music I compose reliability and ease of use are paramount. When you consider that a lot of great sounding music was recorded on 2 and 4 tracks, a lot goes to the compositions, the talent of the players and the engineers.

Composing with midi is important to me. Having good virtual instruments. There are some very good programs out there but they are super expensive.

When it comes to the finished product, what DAW it is mixed on is probably irrelevant. The DAW that will survive is the one that best meets the needs of the users. I hope that DAWs don't have too much influence on how music is created and for music played by musicians they won't. EDM and similar styles rely on the technology is DAWs.

jlouvar wrote:Unfortunately I think in the future DAW’s will cater more to non musician type users rather than musicians who can actually play real instruments... leading to more computerized sounds.

Yep. But it could be argued that the creators of today who have no idea what a note or a chord is maybe in some primitive way advancing or reinventing the art. I would not be making that argument, but it could be said.

jlouvar wrote:Unfortunately I think in the future DAW’s will cater more to non musician type users rather than musicians who can actually play real instruments... leading to more computerized sounds.

Yep. But it could be argued that the creators of today who have no idea what a note or a chord is maybe in some primitive way advancing or reinventing the art. I would not be making that argument, but it could be said.

I suppose so, and it also could be argued that many drummers lost work when drum machines came out, and now many musicians have and are losing work too. Computerized sounds/music with no soul... the future of old school musicians is being lost.

jlouvar wrote:Unfortunately I think in the future DAW’s will cater more to non musician type users rather than musicians who can actually play real instruments... leading to more computerized sounds.

Yep. But it could be argued that the creators of today who have no idea what a note or a chord is maybe in some primitive way advancing or reinventing the art. I would not be making that argument, but it could be said.

I suppose so, and it also could be argued that many drummers lost work when drum machines came out, and now many musicians have and are losing work too. Computerized sounds/music with no soul... the future of old school musicians is being lost.

It can't just be argued, it's a fact. Electronic stuff is damaging the soul of music.

The whole process has changed. It used to be that when you bought studio time the whole band would perfect the song. Where and when it becomes damaging to the music is subject to debate. For instance, is a click track a bad thing?

Is having a midi drum track or drum loops a bad thing? Is it a compromise worth making?

Autotune? I won't use it.

I think a musical person can make good music regardless of the medium. That said, I prefer real instruments.

I prefer real instruments as well. If you look at it another way the computer is an instrument.

Things really have changed in the way we make and record music. I can imagine that back when recording first became available there were some who said that they like to listen to live music and how will things be when people can save and listen to something played live later on?

I see the transition as being particularly painful for the "old school" who maybe worked in the 60's and 70's with those technologies and then trying to cope with what's happening now. I came along just as all of that was being phased out for different tech. I had no problem with the changes and even seen it as an improvement in many ways. DAWs are no longer seen as new to the vast majority, still you occasionally read about a musician who came from the old ways, maybe they are recently retired and are trying to get into computer music for recording and they either don't like it or don't want to take the time to learn how it all works. For them, the "good old days" will always be the best. They were some very romantic and artistic times. It's a shame they can't get that back using computers.

The real change as I see it though is that the computer is the ultimate modern source of everything regrading entertainment and information. It's too late to change that since this has been happening for awhile now and has progressed to the point that, like it or not, the computer is as used and common as the car.
Music was at one time "here" and now music is "there" in the computer. It only makes sense then that developers and musicians would be going to that world just the same as everyone else does. If they want any kind of attention for their work they will. Yes there are buskers still on the corner and people still buy tickets to classical music concerts, just not as frequently. The computer offers the path of least resistance for the masses that don't have access to real music.

I still practice my instruments, I mean, I'm a musician first, however, I will take advantage of anything that can help me to make my music the way I imagine it to sound, so I guess I've adopted both views of it. I think we can do both. And since music is "there" and not here, I mostly put my music "there".

I think DAWs have somewhat decentralised music production. Now everyone (rookies) can make music, post their tracks online and if they are good, make some money out of them. But at the same time "free DAWS" have opened the floodgates for a lot of competition since everyone can now afford professional audio production for FREE.

So, my guess is that DAWs are here to stay for the next 10-15 years without a doubt. But of course, that can all change if some major disruption takes place in the audio production landscape.

jaxlrose wrote:Now everyone (rookies) can make music, post their tracks online and if they are good, make some money out of them.

Good music does not make money. Business makes money. Promotion and advertising infiltrate consciousness (radio and TV etc). Popularity (& endless goodwill) comes from consumer's shared memories. There is money harvesting capability in that, not in art or industry itself.